Montana high court steps in on rape case sentence

Montana District Judge G. Todd Baugh reads a statement apologizing for remarks he made about a 14-year-old girl raped by a teacher in Billings, Mont., Wednesday Aug. 28, 2013. State prosecutors said Wednesday they are appealing as "illegal" the 30-day sentence handed down by the Montana judge to the former teacher for raping the girl. The announcement came following widespread condemnation for the sentence and the judge's comments that the victim was "older than her chronological age." (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Photo: Matt Brown, STF

BILLINGS, Mont. - When a judge here sentenced schoolteacher Stacey Dean Rambold to 30 days in prison for raping a 14-year-old student - declaring her "older than her chronological age" and "as much in control of the situation" as the man who pleaded guilty - it set off a storm of outrage. As the chorus of condemnation grew, the judge, G. Todd Baugh, apologized.

But when he announced his intention to reconsider the sentence at a hearing Friday, he set off fresh waves of objection. Lawyers for both sides protested that the judge lacked the authority to correct a sentencing error, and the Montana Supreme Court stepped in Friday and ordered the judge to cancel his resentencing.

On Friday afternoon, Baugh stepped into the middle of the storm with an unusual courtroom appearance. As he faced television cameras and victims' advocates, he recited the lengthy legal history of the case. Then Baugh said the dispute over the sentence he had issued would now be moving on to the Montana Supreme Court, and out of his hands.

Last week, the judge sentenced Rambold to 15 years but suspended all but 30 days.